Neil Adler (7-4)
Prediction: Syracuse 75-57
The Syracuse basketball squad, stuck in a two-contest skid, seeks to get back to its winning ways as the Orange hosts Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon inside the Carrier Dome.
With just a pair of encounters remaining before Atlantic Coast Conference competition commences, SU (7-4) desperately needs to secure some positive momentum after getting handled at home by Old Dominion and, most recently, No. 14 Buffalo.
Meanwhile, Arkansas State (5-6), out of the Sun Belt Conference, picked up a success over Missouri State earlier this week. So far in the 2018-19 campaign, the Red Wolves are 0-4 on the road, and they will prove sizable underdogs when they travel to the Hill. ESPN.com’s match-up predictor says that the ‘Cuse, 6-2 in the present term on its own turf, possesses a 96.4 percent chance of prevailing.
Statistically speaking, Syracuse and Arkansas State are fairly even in a lot of the main categories, although the Orange has faced a more difficult schedule to date. While SU’s roster is clearly in a funk, I just can’t see the ‘Cuse losing a third-consecutive affair in Central New York to a non-conference foe. Syracuse still has much work to do, but the Orange will conquer the Red Wolves in this duel, by a final count of 75-57.